The Ichigo Academy
by Batman2o4
Summary: Ichigo attending Soul Society school! Humor, drama and above all chaos ensues! IchiRuki FTW!
1. Intro to a Rugged Noble

I'm back again with another IchiRuki fanfic that will probably remain unfinished until the end of time.. JOKING! Don't maim me! I'll still find time for my older fanfictions as well as try to update this one regularly. Anyway, let the story begin!

- CHAPTER 1 – Intro to a rugged noble –

Rukia dropped down into her seat ungracefully and sighed as the teacher began to give her another blue-sky lecture about being late.

"Now class, we have a new student who just transferred from a pricey private school!" Mr. Obishi announced proudly.

_A private school? Not another dweeb.. We've got enough of those with just Renji around.. _She thought to herself, snickering slightly at the abuse of her best-friend, Whom at this moment was looking at her quizzically because of her little outburst of giggles.

"Please come in, Kurosaki Ichigo!" Obishi announced loudly as if introducing a celebrity. A bored looking teenager walked in the door. He was tall, lanky and had bright orange hair. A couple of the girls giggled and several guys snickered to themselves._ Enh. He's okay looking I mean.. he doesn't have tattoos all over his face._

"Hey strawberry!" Somebody yelled out from the back of the room and received several more snickers and a few gasps. Suddenly the boy's bored expression with replaced with a fiery glare that he directed in the general direction of the perpetrator.

"I DARE YOU TO SAY THAT TO MY FACE, COWARD!" He bellowed, to make sure everyone in the room –or perhaps school-- could hear him.

Rukia's eyes widened slightly _Is this guy crazy!? They're gonna expel him!_

Suddenly he turned to the frightened looking teacher, bowed and apologized quietly before taking his seat. Rukia couldn't figure out why but her eyes always seem to stray back to the scowling boy's face all Class

"Wasn't that Kurosaki boy something?" Rukia asked excitedly while bouncing at her tall friend's side.

"Not really.." Renji mumbled "More like an ass." He added after some thought.

"Renji!" Rukia scolded "But I guess he is a bit of an idiot. Not to mention rude! If he were a noble he would have been executed by now."(A/N Stricter rules in noble families? Byakuya makes me believe it.)

Renji stopped in his tracks and stared dumbfounded at his friend, she returned the favor but her stare was blank.

"What?" She asked innocently.

"You don't know?" He responded, still perplexed.

"Obviously not, baka!" Rukia huffed, getting fed-up with the stalling.

"He's one of **the** Kurosakis, Idiot!" Renji exclaimed, flailing his arms for added effect.

"Oooh." She said thoughtfully "…Who?" Renji groaned.

"Ya'no! Kurosaki Isshin? Captain of the 5th Division!" Renji reminded "Noble" He dragged the word out for added effect.

Rukia looked interested for about half a second before beginning to walk again saying "Okay."

"I'm home.." Ichigo called out as he stepped in through the front door, barely avoiding one of his father's flying side-kicks.

"Son! You've finally surpassed me! I'M SO PROUD!" Isshin attempted to glomp Ichigo as tears of joy streamed down his face.

"That happened a long time ago, Old man!" Ichigo shouted, deftly maneuvering around his father's acts of compassion.

Isshin flew at Ichigo at full-speed, sadly Ichigo side-stepped just before the collision and Isshin fell on the floor with a thump.

"What's for dinner? I'm starving!" Ichigo called out to noone in particular as he grinded his father's face into the floorboards with his foot.

Ichigo stumbled into the sparring lounge with his training shirt under his arm. He burst through the door loudly just as the teacher called his name.

"Here!" He called out, smirking proudly to himself. He suddenly realized the fact that he was now standing in the doorway of a room full of his classmates, bare-chested and foolish looking. A blush crept across his face as he mumbled a sorry and plopped down on the tatami mat flooring. 'Awws' were heard around the room as the look of pride went to dreadful realization to blushing madly. Rukia's eyes softened and she had to restrain herself from joining the pack of girls cooing words of affection to him.

"Fool.." She murmured to herself quietly as she fought to avert her eyes from his well-toned albs and to her teacher's face.

Sorry! Really short.. I pinky swear I'll update this one XD unlike all my others.. I will take up Meet the Brother.. someday.

Anyway, Hope you like it. I've already got some ideas but I'm just kind of running with a oneshot idea so please! If you have any suggestions don't fail to tell 'em to me :

Cheers,

Batman


	2. A Meeting Forced by Fate

- CHAPTER 2 - A Meeting forced by Fate -

Ichigo swallowed the last mouthful of onigiri he had as he sprinted through the hall way.

_Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Not again! If I'm late onne more time they're gonna suspend me!_ He grimaced at the thought of suspension. Not the he really minded 2 days off from school but his father was very big on the whole 'Kurosaki image' thing. He shuddered. Since Childhood it had always been about the family's honor. _No, Ichigo you can't do this, no! You can't do that! _He mimicked in his head. He was so caught up in thought that he didn't realize the short raven-haired girl as he turned the sharp corner.

"Baka!" He yelled, rubbing his sore head. "That hurt!" He turned to glare at his opponent, and she returned a scowl.

"You think I meant to do that, idiot!" She mumbled bitterly as she began picking up her books. Ichigo picked some of his as she was doing so.

"That's mine." She said simply, pointing to one of the books Ichigo was picking up. He looked at her quizzically then at the book, reading the title.

'_Curious John goes to The Circus'_ he suppressed a chuckle as he stared back and forth from the childrens' book and the scowling girl in front of him, her arm outstretched and her eyebrow twitching in aggravation.

"Listen… It's for.. My little brother." She lied cautiously.

Ichigo scoffed "Suure it is." As he walked by her he handed her the book and stalked off as if nothing had ever happened.

She scowled deeply as the red tint swept over her cheeks. She wanted to be angry with the tall, lanky shinigami-in-training, but something didn't feel right. She felt… weird. She stood staring blankly at his retreating back until he was out of sight and then continued to stare in that direction.

She heard the bell signaling the end of first period and gasped loudly.

_Shit! Shit! Shit! If I'm late one more time they're gonna suspend me!_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Renji's class was out on a field trip that day so Rukia was forced into solitude, sitting- protected by the shade of the tree- quietly munching her lunch. She heard heavy footsteps and a slightly familiar reiatsu approaching her. The slight memory of the masked reiatsu began and flood back to her, it had a rough feeling; as if it were pushing you around or directing you, along with it's texture it had a distinguishable thickness. The smooth, milky thickness of a hot, humid day. But unlike before or after rain it was not soothing, it was crisp, and cool; Refreshing even. She was suddenly awoken from her trance from a gruff voice growling 'Here' and a math book being shoved into her face.

She stared quizzically at the opposing textbook before identifying her small, neat calligraphy which read 'Kuchiki Rukia'.

"Thanks.." She mumbled, taking the notebook from his hands sheepishly.

"Why are you sitting all alone..?" He asked, though it sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Aah.. My friend's out on field duty." She explained quietly, staring off into space. The familiar burning jealousy was bubbling up inside her again so she decided to cut it short.

"I see.." He said thoughtfully, plopping down next to her at the trunk of the tree. "That red-haired dude?" he confirmed after some time.

"Mm. Abarai Renji" she avoided eye contact with the boy and he did the same for her. An unspoken truce, the only time they locked eyes was when a secure scowl was locked on each of their faces.


	3. Building a Relationshit

CHAPTER 3 – Building a Relationshit –

Ichigo had begun seeing that Kuchiki girl more often. In fact, he sometimes sought her out on the hallway for a sarcastic comment or some light teasing. Though that boy.. The guy she was usually around.. he didn't give Ichigo such nice vibes.

_It's like every time Im near Rukia.._

He paused his thought to wave at her across the hall, a ghost of a smile, and half of a smirk plastered on his mug. But as he did that he saw the tall fiery haired teen glaring in his general direction. He decided that there was no better way to respond to that than to glare right back at him, twice as ferociously as was previously dished out.

When Rukia realized the battle preparing to take place she sighed and pulled Renji away by his collar, as he tried to keep Ichigo's gaze.

Ichigo felt as if he should feel victorious but for some reason he didn't. He felt as if he shouldve been the one getting scolded by Rukia.. and along with this need he felt a tinge of jealousy.

_Me?! Jealous of that idiot?! No way._ He thought, adding a scoff out loud for added effect. He continued to walk through the hallways humming an indistinctive tune.

Renji glared at Rukia from across the small pic-nic table.

"What!?" She screamed, catching him off-guard.

"What does that Kurosaki guy want." He demanded, regaining his previous composure and menacing stare.

"Nothing! He's nice. What's it to you?" She pointed out, sticking her tongue out at him. He huffed in response, folding his arms before getting up and stalking off.

"Renji! Where the hell are you going?" Rukia called after him.

"Why don't you go hang out with Kurosaki if you like him so much."

Rukia scowled at the back of her best friend. "Renji, don't be like that!" She yelled again, but he was already out of earshot.

"Who needs him.. Baka." She mumbled.

"Who's a baka?" A deep voice behind her asked. She nearly jumped out of her skin.

"ICHIGO!" She screeched, turning around and glaring at him. He smirked.

"Yeah?" He responded casually, taking the seat Renji had just been in.

"Don't you dare, **ever**, Sneak up on me like that. Or I'll Kill You." She warned, her face showing no sign of bluffing. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Who's the baka?" He asked half-heartedly, propping his chin up in the palm of his hand.

"Oh.. It's just Renji. He's being stupid.." She began, A fire lit up in Ichigo's eyes at the mention of his rival.

"I thought he was always like that" He pointed out.

"Ichigo!" She scolded half-heartedly, trying to suppress her light giggling. "Youre just as bad as him!" He smirked in victory.

"Whatever you say." He smiled, while standing up. "Im gonna go look for some Chow."

She stood to follow him and they prowled the school for an hour scavenging for food.

"Hey, Renji! Ain't that your girlfriend over there?" Ikkaku pointed Rukia out in the crowd as Renji was turned the other way and talking to someone else.

"How many times have I gotta tell you, she's not my girlfrie—"

He stopped mid sentense as he saw Rukia strolling through the large garden with Ichigo.

"Son of a bitch.." He mumbled.

"Yo, isn't that the new kid? The one who gets moved around a lot?" One of his buddy's commented.

"Yeah.. Listen, I need you guys to do me a favor.."

"So what's the deal with you?" Rukia asked as they plopped down near the pond, buns in hand.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo mumbled, mouth full of food.

"You got a huge badboy rep, I personally don't see anything in you but a big dweeb." She teased and smirked as she saw his face heat up with anger.

"Listen you, Midge-" He started choking on his bun half way through the sentense and Rukia began laughing hysterically at his facial expression.

"WAY TO SAVE MY LIFE!" Ichigo screeched after he had fished the opposing bun from his throat.

"Can it, strawberry. So what's the deal." Ichigo suddenly seemed extremely serious and solemn.

"Every school I go to, it seems like everybody wants to fight me. Like it proves that theyre the best because they can beat the 5th Captain's son. And because of this fact, even as a small child I was bullied. I learned to fight back.. and well. Eventually you get a rep and people start to really point fingers at you. For anything." He paused to rip off a piece of his bread and shovel it into his mouth.

"Hmm." Rukia mumbled thoughtfully.

"I got a feeling about this school." He said, smirking confidently at Rukia "I get the feelin… Im gonna be here a looong time." He finished as he laid down on the grass and entwined his finger behind his head.

"A looong time." He mumbled before drifting off into sleep.

(A/N)

Ichigo's getting settled.

Renji's getting pissed.

And Rukia's completely indifferent.

Yay!


	4. Making an Impression

CHAPTER 4 – Making an Impression –

When Rukia woke up she was sprawled in the thick grass near the pond. Ichigo's face barely 2 inches from hers. After a couple of moments of blushing ferociously she came to her senses and scrambled to her feet.

Judging by the sunset, Rukia came to the conclusion that it was.. None other than sunset. Before long, she realized what that meant.

"Shit!" She cursed, looking around for all of her belongings, and in the process waking the other teen.

"What?" He grumbled sleepily. She looked at him, horrified by his laid back disposition.

"We skipped all afternoon!" She exclaimed, flailing her arms for added effect. At this, he looked up and noticed the sun setting.

"Huh." He stated intelligently. "I guess so." She seemed even more disturbed by his reaction.

"Do you now what this means!? We could get detention.. Or Suspended! Or.." Suddenly Ichigo was on his feet, his large hand resting on her shoulder.

"Don't sweat it, kid." He assured. "It's not that bad, haven't you ever played hookie before?" Instead of exploding on him for taking it too lightly, she felt safer by his calmness.

".No" She stated quietly "Nii-sama would certainly not approve." She sighed.

Ichigo nearly laughed out loud.

"Would Nii-sama approve of anything in your life?!" He asked. She timidly shook her head no. "Then why even care?! If there's no chance of impressing him why even try?" She felt her defensiveness bubble up inside her.

"Because then you'd have no goals! Youd end up a low-life, no aspirations, no dreams.." she started, but Ichigo cut her off.

"And everything Nii-sama wants, you want too, huh? Sounds pretty much like the same thing, to me." He started to walk back towards the school. She was so flustered for a minute that she didn't follow him, but soon regained consciousness and chases after him.

"Hey! Slow Down! KUROSAKI!"

Ichigo hummed to himself as he walked through the halls to his locker where he found a rather disturbing sight. It had been written all over with black marker disgracing his family and father and even things such as his hair.

He hesitated for a moment taking it all in, then opened his locker, fished out his bag and stalked home, completely unaffected.

Watching the lanky teen leave the school was Renji and his gang, The flame-haired teen steaming.

"Jesus, Renji! That guy didn't care at all! No wonder Rukia thinks he's so coo—" Renji cut off his friend, forcing him into the wall and lifting him off the ground by his collar.

"Not. Another. **Word**." Renji growled through gritted teeth.

"Man, it was just a joke. Chill." The other boy said, rather angrily before brushing Renji's hand away.

"Let's go guys. Let Renji PMS in peace.." He said, before leading the rest of the guys out of the school, leaving Renji alone.

And **Angry**.

"So.. Rukia." Matsumoto said slyly, poking Rukia's shoulder and scaring her out of her daydream.

"Jesus! What?" Rukia asked loudly, turning around to face her friend.

"I just heard some juicy gossip.." She began, and Rukia's eyes squinted accusingly at her friend as she moved closer to Rukia's ear.

"About you and Kurosaki.." She whispered. Rukia stiffened, then began to laugh nervously.

"That's crazy! I don't even know him.." As if on cue, Ichigo walked into the room and offered his greeting only to her, as he walked to his seat at the back of the class. Once he sat he saw the short girl glaring at him.

_So I'm not allowed to say hello anymore…_

He was slightly hurt, did he embarrass her? Whatever. He opened his book, relaxed in his chair, and began reading until the teacher arrived.

Matusmoto smirked at her raven-haired friend.

"Riight." She said sarcastically, before walking back to the large group of friends.

Rukia sighed loudly before setting onto her project.

Ichigo was dragged out of the climax of his book when there was a knock at the side of his head, he looked to the ground for the opposing object, expecting it to be an eraser thrown at him by one of the jocks, but he only saw a crudely made Paper-Airplane that said 'Ichigo' in fine, cursive letters.

Curious, he picked it up and un-crumpled it.

_We can't be so obvious about hanging out, they'll think we're dating or something._

_Rukia_

Ichigo stared at the sentence blankly, in truth, it had taken Rukia many a moment of blushing and reassuring words such as "We're not dating.. We're not.." Before she sent it flying off in the carrot-head's direction.

After a couple of moments he began working on his reply. And flung it in the short girl's direction.

Rukia felt the airplane attack the back of her head and she turned around to glare at her male accomplice, he only shrugged in response and went back to his book.

_And.. Why do we care what they think?_

She thought about it for sometime..

_Because the rumor will spread through the school.. and.. _

After a while of thinking she came to the conclusion that it truly, didn't affect much.

What she didn't count on, were the feelings of he other male friend, and the gossip-rate of the Gotei 13.

Two extremely huge factors.

Though this Kuchiki strongly believe in the saying 'Better safe than sorry' and decided to extinguish the flames of jealousy and gossip before they got too hot.

As she approached the group of chittering girls she heard bits of their conversation.

"Kurosaki… Pond….. Kuchiki…. Sleep…. Kissing." Rukia stopped dead in her tracks as the heat rose to her face.

_We had been pretty close when I woke up.. but had we been that close..?_ Her mind dashed to different, rather explicit images and decided to face the pack of females when she was a little less flustered. Luckily, at that moment the teacher walked into the class, giving her some time to sort her thoughts, not quite enough though because soon he had told them to find groups for something.

She was pulled out of her little mind-cocoon by a tapping on her shoulder.

_If it's Matsumoto, so help me god.._

She turned around to see her friend Tatsuki looking at her intently.

"Group?" She asked, as if it should make sense to Rukia.

"…What?" The Kuchiki asked, completely confused.

"For the trip! Would you like to be in a group with me and Orihime?" She explained.

"Ahh… Trip.. Yes.." she said without quite knowing what she had agreed to.

"Cool." Arisawa said simply before stalking off.

_O..Kay._

She then realized the writing on the board.

**Overnight Field Training**

She looked around the room to see everyone happily making plans for the trip, except one boy, sitting all alone and looking rather miserable.

Not that he seemed particularly disappointed that noone was showering him with offers, but just that he was all alone was sad enough.

She trudged towards him, bringing his eyes back into focus.

"Yo." He said absent-mindedly.

"Hey Nosferatu, what's with you? Youre not joining a group for the trip?" He looked up at her with the most honest expression she'd ever seen.

"Noone would want me around." He stated simply, before averting his eyes. She felt like squeezing him to death, but she maintained her composure and kept cool.

"Have you even talked to anyone but me at this school?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"Ofcourse!" He stated matter-of-factly.

"Who?" Rukia asked, obviously unconvinced.

"Uh.. The Principal! The teachers!" He smirked victoriously and Rukia rolled her eyes, dragging him up by his arm.

"Come on. Ill introduce you to some people." He followed her around the big classroom like a lost puppy.

After he had been introduced to every single person in the class he sat down tiredly in his

Seat. Most of the girls had giggled loudly when him and Rukia approached, guys glared at them, and the couples glared at him too for interrupting their make-out moment.

The only people who accepted him (and even then, it was fairly half-hearted) were these weirdos….

_(Super Flashback time!)_

Ichigo and Rukia approached the table of misfits. As Rukia came into grabbing range, a boy from the table wearing the student uniform and with Chin-length wavy brown hair jumped up at her screaming her name. She seemed unaffected but Ichigo jumped into action, grabbing the guy and instantly pinning him against the table.

Rukia poked his shoulder.

"Down, Boy." She commanded, and earned a glare from him.

"Give her some space, kay?" He grunted to the boy, and he nodded his head sheepishly.

Even though their friend had just been attacked by Ichigo, the rest of them seemed taken to him… Or perhaps it had been because he had attacked the boy..

Their names were Asano Keigo, Yatsutora Sado, and Mizuiro.

Although Keigo had been slightly annoying, Ichigo decided he could survive being with these guys.

_I don't have much other choice.._ He decided.

_(End of Super Flash back Time)_

It's good that you've got friends to babysit you now, I have things to take care of.

"Okay.." Ichigo said, lost in thought and feeling slightly hurt that he was suddenly a burden.

Super Long! Well.. compared to my other chapters! Sadly, not much happened. But don't worry! Im working up to excitement, people!

Hope you liked it!

Cheers,

Bat


	5. A Small Chance for Some Romance

(A/N)s Yo, I was just reading over the last chapter and it may seem Rukia is a little OOC with her wavering. 'infatuation' with Ichigo.

ie. When she was unsure of the relationship between them. Now, Im not implying the feelings are there, I'm just pointing out that Rukia is much younger now, she's almost into the time in her life where she fell head over heels for Mr.Shiba without a second thought. Not to mention, she hadn't been through many of the hardships in here life and her toughened outer-shell hasn't quite produced yet. That's why I made her a little more sensitive to her feelings and a little (Little!) More shy and self-conscious. If you think it's a little too much, please say so in the reviews and I'll return her to her previous, pushy, sexy midget she was before.

And By the way, in case youre wondering, this **is** my sneaky way of making the gang go on a camping trip P

Chapter 6 - A Small Chance for a Romance –

The walk to their destination, which in reality was only 30 minutes long, had seemed like an eternity to Ichigo. Not only did he have Keigo latching onto his arm and squealing about the various girls and breast sizes in the class, but the various girls the boy was speaking of were repeatedly giggling at him. Especially when he looked at them.

To Keigo, it would be heaven. To Ichigo, it was a nuisance.

Once they finally got there it was already around noon, and they were told there would be no training that day and to relax, set up their tents and eat. Keigo had run off somewhere along with Mizuiro and Chad, thus Ichigo was left to deal with the tent on his own.

He struggled for more than 10 minutes with it before falling on his face, tangled in the deadly contraption.

Rukia had been watching, and though she knew it would only reignite the flames (of gossip) she had just subdued, she had to help him.

As Ichigo rolled onto his back, attempting to remove the device from his legs, cursing all the while, Rukia walked up.

"Nice work, Spaz." She commented, observing his handy-work.

"Shut up." He grumbled, detaching one of the ropes from his leg.

"Want some help?" She asked innocently, placing her hands on her hips.

"No!" He shouted, suddenly noticing he was more tangled than he was prior to his struggling. Rukia raised an eyebrow at him.

He turned away, his face red with shame and embarrassment.

".. Yes.." He mumbled under his breath.

"What's the magic word?" She teased. God, she loved torturing him.

He glared at her ferociously, and she shook her finger at him in mock scolding.

"P.. Please." He whispered under his breath.

"Please what?" She grinned mischievously. Yep, This would definitely be classified as torture.

"Please help me, Rukia.." He mumbled again.

"What was that? I cant hear you.." She prodded.

"PLEASE HELP ME, RUKIA!" He roared, his face no longer red from embarrassment and now anger.

Despite the fact that she knew everyone in their class was now staring at them, she was very please and set to work on the task at hand.

"No! The other kin—" Ichigo's sentence was cut short by the scowling girls face coming noticeably closer.

Rukia and Ichigo grunted in unison, but Rukia's was muffled by her face smacking into Ichigo's hard chest.

For a moment they lay there, in a daze, when suddenly Rukia's head shot up.

"What the hell! Your chest nearly broke my nose!" She gasped, hands reaching up to investigate her lightly bleeding face.

Ichigo scowled.

"You think I enjoy being pounced on, you stupid midget?!" Rukia attempted to punch him in the face for the comment about her height when she realized a new predicament.

Ichigo wasn't the only one stuck.

After a few minutes of hurried struggling they slowed down, and began to bicker.

"No.. Wrong! God-damnit! Let me do it!" Ichigo yelled trying to reach the cord with his bound hands.

"I can do it!" She huffed pulling the knot away from his prying fingers, obviously pulling too hard and the cord connected to her ankle jerked, causing her to be shifted down again.

Now Rukia's cheek rested against Ichigos and again, for a moment they laid in shock. Sadly, Keigo has perfect timing.

Click!

Ichigo's eyes widened.

"KEIGO!" He struggled, shoving him and Rukia into an even more awkward position.

"Hey everybody! Come check this out!"

After a couple of hours of the whole class untangling them (Giggling all the way) Ichigo and Rukia were safe, and by that time it was almost lights-out.

Ichigo awoke to the sound of humming outside his tent. Curious, he pulled on a warm jacket (A/N I dunno what else to call it.. Haori? Naw.) over his shirt and poked his head through the entrance way.

He saw the sharp outline of Rukia's back, silhouetted against the brightness of the campfire. He silently padded over and sat down beside her.

She jumped slightly and glared at him, warning that if he were to do it again he'd surely receive a bloody nose and broken bone.

"Can't sleep?" He asked quietly, gazing into the heart of the flames.

"Yeah." She mumbled, he suddenly realized her shivering.

Now, Kurosaki Ichigo knew nothing about being a gentleman, he didn't know of love of relationships. Hell, he didn't even know a lot about friendship. But he was a man of action, and a man of instinct, and right now, his gut was telling him to give her the jacket.

So, he gracefully dropped it on her head.

"What the hell was that for?" She asked, angrily.

"Youre cold." He stated simply, with a tinge of defenciveness.

"Oh." She said thoughtfully, staring at the surprisingly interesting patch of dirt by her feet.

After a few moments he noticed added weight on his shoulder and looked down to see her head propped on it, and her fast asleep.

"Uhh…" He intelligently stated, weighing his options. He decided he'd take her to her tent and tell her tent-mates he found her asleep at the campfire.

He just didn't take one thing into account.

He didn't know where her tent was. He wandered aimlessly, with a limp, lifeless Rukia in his arms before he came to a second conclusion.

He set her down by the campfire and dragged his small mattress and blanket outside.

He placed her on the mattress and placed the blanket around her waste, leaning back against a nearby tree he began his long night of Midget Surveillance.

After about 15 minutes he began to notice how tired he was, and the melodic crackling of the fire was lulling him to sleep.

_No! You gotta watch her.. Keigo.. That bastard… he might.._ He didn't finish this thought, and after about 3 hours of Rukia being draped under his protective watch, he himself drifted off into the deep waters of sleep, propped up against a tree trunk.

When Rukia woke up the first thing she noticed was that she wasn't in her tent. Second was that she had Ichigo's jacket draped around her shoulders, then soon after that she was outside.

As she sat, confused on the small comforter, she was woken out of her thoughts by the stirring teen sitting beside her, asleep against a tree trunk.

Her eyes softened looking at Ichigo.

_He waited up all night for me?_

The idea seemed absurd, but the more she thought about it and glanced at the sleeping boy, the more it made sense.

People were starting to get up so she decided to wake Ichigo up so she could interrogate him in private.

She shuffled over to him and began poking his temple.

"Ichigo. Strawberry." She sang in a sing-song voice. After a few minutes his eyes cracked open.

"Shut up." He said, before closing his eyes again.

She frowned and repeated the treatment.

"What!?" He shouted.

"Why are we outside?" She asked innocently.

"Oh.. Well. You fell asleep..so.." Suddenly his plan seemed to be making less sense than it did the night before.

Rukia cocked an eyebrow at him.

"O..kay.. Well. You better get your mattress back into your tent before people get suspicious. Oh. And here," She said, handing him his coat. "Seeya Later." She waved over her shoulder as she walked away.

Renji glared at the Orange-haired boy watching Rukia walk away with a dazed look on his face.

He clenched and unclenched his fists, before letting out a long, drawn out breath and punching a tree.

(A/Ns)

I'm worried I'm making Renji seem like a total bitch. In reality I really like Renji, he's one of my favorite characters.. I'll do something about his hissy fits soon. So don't worry, Renji Fangirls!

P.S. Im sorry about the double post of this chapter, I forgot to double-check and read it over. :D


	6. Gone Fishin'

* * *

-- Chapter 6 – Gone Fishin' –

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched as he looked angrily at the fumbling Keigo, backed up against a table.  
"Ya see, Ichigo, I just woke up and I was so hungry that I had to eat all the foo-"  
"BULLSHIT!" Ichigo interjected "We had enough food for 5 people for 3 days! How the hell can you be so fat?!"  
"Well.. Why don't you go catch some fish for us to eat?" Mizuiro suggested.  
Ichigo growled but began to stalk off, looking for something that could possibly catch a fish.

* * *

Rukia looked tiredly at Orihime, who seemed rather shy and embarrassed.  
"So.. Let me get this straight.. You pack no food at all?" Rukia asked pinching the bridge of her nose where a headache was forming.  
"Well.. You see Kuchiki-chan…" Inoue went off into a long, complicated explanation filled with leeks, ripped teddy bears, and dead birds.  
"Forget it Inoue, It's no problem. I'll just go catch some fish for us to eat.." She mumbled, walking off in the direction of the bushes to find a proper stick.

* * *

Renji sighed as he walked away from his tent mates, fumbling with their fire to make breakfast.  
"Oi! Abarai, where you goin?" one of his buddies called.  
He turned around lazily and walked backwards.  
"To catch some fish, you think I'd eat the crap you've got cooking?" Renji teased, and the boy pouted, assuring himself that his cooking was not 'crap'.

* * *

Ichigo tossed another lame stick behind his head and heard a squeak.  
"What the hell.." He heard a familiar female voice mumble. He turned around and she looked up over one of the small hedges that was hiding her.  
"What the hell did you do something stupid like that for, strawberry head?!" she growled.  
"Sorry, I didn't see you there because you're so SHORT!" Ichigo reminded.  
"Well good thing you have that fluorescent hair or I would've beaned you by accident, Mr. Kurosaki" she quipped.  
"What are you idiots fighting about?" Renji asked, popping up from behind a tree, but was left unnoticed by the pair, screaming at eachother and walking towards the stream.  
He sighed and followed close behind.

* * *

"That's not how you catch a fish, baka." Ichigo commented, pointing to Rukia's handiwork.  
"Doesn't look like you've caught anything either." She countered, with a glare.  
Ichigo mumbled something about just trying to help as he returned to his side of the small stream.

* * *

"Ah-Ha!" Ichigo yelled, holding up his speared fish proudly. Hardly even noticing his two accomplices already sitting at the small fire and eating their catches.

* * *

"Time for training!" Ms. Hatanou, the gym teacher, instructed. Ichigo was shaking with anticipation and a smile was threatening to crack out across his face.  
"Aren't you excited?" He asked his friend next to him and she looked up at him with a grim look on her face.  
"What?" He asked, visibly curious.  
"I hate field training!" She whined "So much running, and practicing of the stupid shit we already know!" She groaned to accent her point.  
"I hope we atleast get a good instruc—" Her words were cut off as her mouth began to open and close like a goldfish, her eyes wide in shock.  
Ichigo cocked an eyebrow at his short accomplice, waving a hand infront of her eyes to try to bring her out of her daze.  
"Hey Rukia!" He heard an enthusiastic male voice call, he looked up, confused at the tall, dark haired man standing next to him. His eyes widened almost as much as Rukias' had. The man looked exactly like him, save the longer eyelashes, hair, and a tattoo on his arm. True, his hair colour was off, but other than that flaw they were almost completely identical.  
"What are you looking at, punk?" The man asked, glaring warningly at him. Ichigo snorted and turned away, crossing his arms, but still watching the strange man and Rukia through the corner of his eye.  
"Kaien!" Rukia finally managed, eyes still wide.  
"I know, right! It's been quite a while." He then bent down so he was eye-level with Rukia, squinted at her accusingly.  
"You haven't grown." A vein popped in Rukia's head and she punched him in the stomach causing him to cough up what looked dangerously close to blood and keel over, choking.  
"I've missed you too, kiddo." He coughed out.  
"What are you doing here, Kaien!?" Rukia asked, flailing her arms slightly for added effect.  
"I'm leading the class!" He pronounced proudly, finally finding the power to stand up. Then pointed to his arm-band. "See? VC All the way, baby!" He then continued on making 'Woo woo' noises and talking about a 'pain-train' coming, while Rukia stood staring at him, unimpressed.  
"Anyway," He said, straightening. "I gotta go talk to your teacher about some stuff. See ya!" He then trotted off in the direction of their P.E. Teacher.  
After the man was out of earshot Ichigo walked back to Rukia.  
"Who the hell was that?" He asked, watching the taller man flail his arms and pretend he was shooting something to display some sort of technique to their teacher.  
"He's an old friend of mine, Shiba Kaien, because we're both nobles we were.. 'forced' to hang out with eachother." She smiled, reminiscing her days when she was young.  
"What do you mean forced?" Ichigo asked, looking at her through the corner of his eye for the second time that day.  
"Well. You know." She said, brushing off his question and adjusting her bokken. Ichigo sighed and looked up to find Kaien already beginning his first lesson of the day.

* * *

Ichigo flopped down onto the familiar log near he pond to catch his dinner. Alone.  
Rukia had joined Kaien for a scrumptious packed supper. He snorted disapprovingly at the thought of his rival.  
Rival? What am I talking about! He's hardly my rival, he's my teacher! And plus.. why would I be fighting for Rukia!? I mean.. I don't care about Rukia! That's not what we'd be fighting over! Ichigo grabbed his head in frustration as the fierce battle in his mind raged on.  
He sighed, defeated, and cast his stick into the water in a last attempt at sanity.  
He stood up after a few minutes and dragged himself back to the camp, growling when he heard the laughter of Rukia and Kaien coming from a nearby tent.  
"Ichigo! We're going to bed!" Keigo called. Ichigo grunted in response and sat down next to the huge fire.

* * *

Rukia was still chuckling at Kaien's funny story when she heard the exasperated sigh nearby.  
"Ichigo?" She asked quietly.  
He looked up, obviously taken aback by her sudden arrival, but soon recovered and turned his back on her pouting.  
He mumbled a barely audible 'Hi' and went back to throwing twigs into the fire.  
"This seat taken?" Rukia asked sarcastically, pointing to the spot on the log next to him.  
Again, he mumbled his response. She rolled her eyes and sat down, gazing at the fire.  
She looked sideways at him before sighing.  
"What is it?" She asked, staring intently at the fire.  
Ichigo's scowl deepened. Yeah. Ofcourse you wouldn't know, you're too busy with Kaien.. He made himself even angrier at the thought.  
"Nothing." He growled, not even bothering to make eye contact with her. She looked at him skeptically.  
"Yeah right. Tell me." She pushed.  
"Nothing!" He defended, glaring at her angrily before getting up and walking away.  
She looked down at the fire and sighed sadly.  
"Shit.."


End file.
